Erika

The incident

On 12 December 1999, the oil tanker Erika (with a cargo of 31,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil) broke in two during a storm off Brittany. 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes of oil spilled, polluting 400 km of coastline (Finistère, Morbihan, Loire-Atlantique, Vendée).

Spill Response

• Response at sea: 1 200 m³ of fuel recovered despite poor weather conditions. Use of booms, pumps, and global coordination (Bonn Agreement, Biscay Plan).
• Response on land:
• 5 departments impacted, 400 km of coastline polluted, 50 000 people (military personnel, firefighters, volunteers, private contractors) mobilised.
• Techniques: manual collection, screening of beaches, high-pressure washing, floating booms.
• 200,000 tonnes of waste collected.
• Waste management: 270,000 tonnes of waste collected

Impacts

• Environmental: 200,000 birds died. Fishing, mollusc farming, the salt industry were impacted and sanitary measures were implemented.
  A monitoring programme, “Suivi Erika” was implemented by the ministry for the  Environment.
• Economic: Fishing and tourism paralysed, 350 million Euros of operation costs for pollution response and cleaning.

Legal proceedings and compensation

• Opening of the trial on 12 February 2007
• On 16 January 2008, Total was found guilty of pollution and required to pay 193 million Euros in fines and compensation.
• On 25 September 2012, the judicial chamber of the court of cassation confirmed Total’s responsibility and the existence of ecological prejudice. The oil company was condemned to pay a penal fine of €375,000 and 2 million Euros in civil compensation.

Compensation and condemnation:  The compensation reached 129.7 million Euros (12.8 million paid by the Club and 116.9 million paid by the IOPC Funds of 1992). The oil company was condemned to pay a penal fine of €375,000 and 200 million Euros in civil compensation.

Results

Reinforcement of rules regarding maritime safety through the Erika legal packages: 

•  The “Erika I package” in 2000: established controls of vessels by the State of the port, created a European databank (EQUASIS) of the classification organisations and imposed double hulls to vessels transporting dangerous goods or oil;
• The “Erika II package” in 2002: implemented the EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency, in Lisbon);
•  The “Erika III package” in 2005: reinforced controls and introduced compulsory insurance for shipowners to cover potential maritime claims.

 Recognition of ecological damage was added to the Civil Code.